Digital Preserves

KAPOLEI — UHWO’s team is turning old film footage into a digital archive for future generations.

As the times have changed, so have the playback methods of moving images. ʻUluʻulu: The Henry Kuʻualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawaiʻi, is striving to preserve Hawaiʻi’s moving image heritage. The archive, located on the first floor of University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu’s library, is digitizing old footage in hopes of not only preserving it, but making it accessible to the public as well.

“When’s the last time you saw a VHS player, or a projector?” questions Janel Quirante, head archivist of ʻUluʻulu. “People don’t have the machinery to play [tapes and films] back anymore. Digitizing it is our way to preserve the content in a form that people can actually watch.”

Due to Hawaiʻi’s high temperature and humidity, a lot of old footage has been tainted, and some have even fallen apart. As film reels rust over the years, its footage may become unsalvageable.

“What we’re trying to do is get to that media [and] digitize it, before it gets to that physical state,” Quirante says.